By Matt Crider | Staff Writer
NEWTON, Iowa — Martin Truex Jr. announced Friday that he is retiring from full-time racing at the end of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season.
“I will not be back full time next year,” Truex said at Iowa Speedway. “It’s been incredible; it’s been a hell of a ride. I’m excited about the future, and I’m not really sure what that looks like yet.”
Truex is in his 21st season in the Cup Series. He joined Joe Gibbs Racing in 2019 after winning the championship in 2017 for Furniture Row Racing.
He has recorded 34 victories, including three last season. Truex is winless this year in Gibbs’ No. 19 Toyota but sits fifth in the standings.
With 10 races remaining in the regular season, four drivers have clinched berths in the 16-driver Cup playoff by posting multiple victories. Five drivers have one win, and Truex leads a group of seven winless racers who sit in playoff positions based on points.
“I’m excited about the rest of the year,” Truex said. “I just want to thank Coach and everybody at JGR, Toyota. They’ve been absolutely amazing. To be able to win a championship is something I always dreamed of, and to be able to get that done was amazing and I just feel really lucky to be surrounded by a lot of great people over the years.”
Truex said he feels good about the decision to retire.
“It just felt like the right time for me. Honestly, I thought about it a lot in the past few seasons and just waited for that feeling in my mind to be positive like, ‘This is OK. I’m good. I want to do something else,’” he said. “Something just felt different this year for me, and I felt like it was time to slow down and do something else. It’s been a great ride.”
Truex, who has earned 13 wins and two championships (2004 and 2005) in the Xfinity Series, said he doesn’t know what his racing itinerary might include next year.
“I still love racing. I’m still going to race some,” he said. “I don’t know what, when, how, why. I don’t know any of that yet. I’m going to figure that out.”
Truex was asked about feeding his hunger for competition.
“He’s got Xfinity cars,” Truex said of Gibbs. “Coach, I’m bored and I want to go race. Let’s go.”
“We’re working on that,” Gibbs replied.
Truex also said he’d be open to continuing his quest in the Cup Series to win the Daytona 500 for the first time.
“I’m proud of what I’ve done,” he said. “I feel like I gave it everything I had, and I feel like I was really, really good at what I did. So, yeah, I’m happy with that. I’m content. I feel good. I’m happy. I feel good about this.”
Gibbs said the decision on when to retire was always up to Truex.
“I did everything I could to keep it going,” Gibbs said. “We’ve got two 43-year-olds [Truex and teammate Denny Hamlin] at the top of their game right now, but just when you think about this guy, he’s won 34 races — 32 of them in a Toyota, which is great. … It’s been just absolutely great working with him.”
Truex said he finalized his decision a few weeks ago.
“I was leaning that way most of the season,” Truex said. “I was leaning that direction but I wasn’t totally sure, so it just took awhile to think about it all. It’s a big decision.”
He said he’s looking forward to setting his own schedule.
“I’ve never missed an appearance. You live your life by a schedule that somebody makes for you,” Truex said. “I want to go do the things I want to do, and I don’t want anyone to tell me when I can and when I can’t do those things.
“I don’t know exactly what I’m going to be doing yet aside from the fun stuff I like to do away from the racetrack … hunting, fishing, hanging out with friends. Everyone in my family that’s ever gotten married, I missed their wedding. You know what I mean? You don’t have a life. You’re married to racing. That’s all you do. Monday till Sunday, that’s all you do. So it’s just going to be interesting to lead kind of a normal life for a little while and see what that’s like. I’ve never done that.”
Gibbs might have an adventure getting Truex back for the occasional start.
“I’m sure I’m probably going to have to find him someplace in a boat or with Johnny [Morris] in a tree blind,” Gibbs said. “But we’re going to run him down, so we’re excited about the future.”
Morris, the founder of sponsor Bass Pro Shops, was in attendance Friday and walked around Gibbs to take the microphone and address his longtime driver.
“Martin — no regrets, buddy,” Morris said. “Just be happy and know you make all of us so happy, so proud. And I just wanted to come here — not just for me but everybody in the Bass Pro family, Tracker family of dealers, everybody — just to say thank you very much. Congratulations on a heck of a run, buddy.”
Toyota said in a statement that Truex is the only driver to win Cup races in a Camry for three teams.
“Martin has been a fierce competitor, champion and loyal friend to Toyota and TRD for over a decade,” said David Wilson, president of Toyota Racing Development USA. “His genuine personality and consistent performance have made him a fan favorite and someone who will truly be missed on track each week.”
It won’t be a total loss for Toyota’s premier NASCAR team.
“The great thing is Martin is going to continue with us,” Gibbs said. “He’s going to be an ambassador for us — work on different projects and different things. We haven’t talked about all of it yet, but I think there’ll be a lot.”
Truex agreed.
“I won’t be gone,” Truex said. “I’ll be around still, and we’re going to do some stuff together, have some fun and enjoy life a little bit and wind down.”